Imola saw us have a very mixed result with Oscar having a great weekend but Jack having a terrible one... here is our report.
Qualifying
It was Arttu Nieminen who virtually dominated the session, setting the first fastest lap and maintaining the top spot the entire time, setting a blistering lap of 1:36.106. It was Clank Huges, who looked like he would be 2nd on the grid until quite late into qualifying. Oscar Williams would be Nieminens the closest challenger by improving his lap to 3 tenths off of the pole sitter. Hughes had to settle for 3rd even though a late charge closed the gap to Oscar, but unable to beat the Vermin driver. Championship leader going into this round, Jack Smith could only manage 6th after struggling and having an uncharacteristic spin.
Race 1
Oscar got a lightning start, slipping past Nieminen for the lead into the first chicane with the pair battling for position on the exit; Oscar closed the door maintaining the lead. The rest of the pack had a fairly clean get away behind with Damien De Grasse taking 3rd from Hughes and Jack moving up to 5th, gaining a position on Sammy Salem. Nieminen continued to harass Oscar for the entire first lap making a pass at the start of lap 2 out dragging the Vermin car. Oscar virtually glued his car to the rear of Nieminens for the next 5 or 6 laps applying constant pressure to the leader with the gap being under a second, with Nieminen faster in the first sector but Oscar gaining in the second and third sectors, creating a bit of a stalemate. The pair in front were starting to pull a gap on De Grasse with Hughes and Jack battling for 4th behind him, Jack was staying close during the first phase of the race but at just over the half-way point, his race started to unravel, as a mistake would drop him into Salem’s reach, who took 5th from him. The mistake also freed up Hughes to catch De Grasse, who had also made a slight mistake dropping further back from the leaders and allowed Hughes to close upon his wing. Hughes would seize the opportunity a couple of laps later when De Grasse made a small error which put the Inforward driver back on the podium. Oscar had let the gap to Nieminen grow whilst protecting his tires to around a second, with the timer ticking down the laps, Oscar began a push after saving his tires for a late move on Nieminen, who was having some grip issues towards the final laps which mirrored the action all the way up and down the field individual battles were taking place and drivers making mistakes on the old rubber. Jack's dismal luck struck again, and he suffered another spin which would put him down into 9th with only a few minutes left behind Martijn Van T Land and Tim Omloo. The battle resumed for 3rd as a mistake from Hughes would allow De Grasse back into the position with 35 seconds left on the clock, giving them 1 more lap to race. Jack battled back up to the rear of Van T Land, during the chaotic final laps. Nieminen would take the victory over Oscar by around a second. Hughes and De Grasse would battle down to the wire with De Grasse coming out on top at the line. Jack made his move on Van T Land on the very last lap grabbing 7th in a very disappointing race for the Vermin driver.
Race 2
Derek Hartley was on pole for the reverse grid as the pack piled down to the first chicane, Jack was up to 3rd from starting 4th only for Omloo to under steer into him and cause carnage behind as drivers such as Nieminen, Dave Southword and Hughes are caught up and all drop places. Jack re-joined the circuit in 12th place with race 1 winner even further back in 17th. The accident allows Hartley to break away with a 4-second gap over Van T Land with Oscar managing to keep his car out of all the trouble and straight into 3rd place which is quickly 2nd place by the end of lap 1 and set off chasing down Hartley. Amidst all the action,
Tim Draper and Salem are tucked in 4th and 5th being dragged along by 3rd place Van T Land. Jack had fought his way back to 9th within the opening lap finding himself in a battle with Luttels and Southword. Oscar had cruised up to the back of Hartley within the first 5 minutes of the race, Hartley defending his lead took the inside line going into the chicane, but Oscar had the speed to swoop around the outside and take the lead. Having managed to get past Southword, Jack now put a move on Dave Brave for 7th in what was looking like a nice recovery drive. Nieminen had quietly driven his way back into the top 10, whilst further back Hughes was battling for 12th with Andreas Schilder. Back up front, Van T Land found himself in trouble losing his podium place to Salem and being ever the opportunist De Grasse also managed to slip past dropping Van T Land to 5th. De Grasse squeezed his way into 3rd. Nieminen had chipped away over a couple of laps and was now breathing down the neck of Jack who was still stuck behind Draper, after a close battle Jack and Draper both end up off track releasing Nieminen and dropping Jack to 10th.
Hartley who had been impressive up in 2nd place is one of the early victims of tire wear, struggling for traction he loses several places dropping out of the podium and handing De Grasse and Salem places. With the Tyres crying for grip the battles up and down the grid become more of a battle of fast tip toeing. The continuing battle between Jack and Draper comes to a head again as the pair both end up off track colliding and puts Jack well down in 11th behind Schilder, as Jack tries to overtake the rear end of his car swaps ends on him dropping him down even further and becoming one of the worst races the reigning champion has ever had and costing a lot of championship points as Jack retires from the race.
Van T Land manages to muscle his way into 5th demoting Hartley another place, with Nieminen now on the back of Hartley as well he quickly dispatches both cars in front of a daring move and recovering to an excellent 4th place after such a bad start. But the race belongs to Oscar who had an easy run to victory taking the flag by almost 11 seconds, De Grasse in 2nd and Salem just in front of his teammate in 3rd separated by just 0.8 at the line.
You can watch the full race replay here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/747100634
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